Dark amber in the tulip glass with a minimal foam and just enough carbonation on the tongue. Quite winey in mouthfeel, but it makes for a different sort of adult beverage a little outside the usual beer sensations.

Great fruity flavors with blackberry and vanilla. The muscat grape taste is nicely integrated with the beeriness. This is kind of a malt liquor "with natural flavors," but quite pleasant sipping. Warm and slightly sweet, plus nutty and just a touch of molasses. As it warms there seem to be melons and cucumbers. The oak contributes a very refined woodiness, it's one of the better barrel flavors I've had, but way less intense than most.

On tap at Local Habit during their Stone Vertical Epic week. I see it's also listed at the Stone mother ship location.

Enjoyed at the 'Most Arrogant Bar in America', Barley's Pizzeria & Taproom in Greenville, SC! Served from tap into a snifter. Poured a dark red brown with a half finger off-white head that subsided to a minimal amount quickly. Maintained nice lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, wheat, wood, earth, sweet alcohol, and subtle dark fruit. The flavor was of sweet malt, earth, spice, wood, sweet alcohol, and dark fruit. It had a light feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a fairly good brew. The French oak really added a nice bit of complexity to this brew. The base beer really wasn’t that exciting if I am honest, so I wasn’t going into this one expecting huge things. However, the French oak definitely helped to take it to the next level as it added a nice earthy note that I did not get in the base brew in the past. A really well thought out plan here that seemed to actually enhance the brew.

Beautiful color and presence with this beer - light amber with a bit of cloudiness probably due to some barrel effects. The head was minimal but some lingering foam on the rim of the glass a bit of lacing. Smells of white grapes and flowers - sweet. Taste is complex especially next to the non-barrel aged. The wine presence is mellowed a bit in this version and takes on a bit more of after dinner drink (like a port or icewine). Great beer.

T- Muscat grapes, sauvignon blanc, a faint grape tartness, a bit floraly from the chamomile and an oak presence that balances nicely with the floral presence. Finishes with a lightly sweet muscat/sauvignon taste. I really like how the oak balances with the other flavors going on.

M- Medium, not a whole lot of carbonation but fits beer well, smooth, goes down very easily.

O- The barrel-aging on the 10 added a nice touch and french oak barrels were definitely the right type of barrel to perfectly compliment the other flavors in the beer. Like the 09, tasting them side by side you could tell how the barrel accentuated the flavors nicely and actually provided more flavor unlike the 08. I enjoyed drinking this beer and I almost appreciated it just as much as the BA 09.

This brew was served from the tap (labeled as “Aged with Oak Chips”) at the Tap and Mallet Vertical Epic tasting event. It arrived in a chalice, glowing a golden brown coloring. It held a one and a half finger head of light brown bubbles, showing good retention. Spidery lacing was left down the glass. Carbonation appeared average. There was the haziness of apple cider, but no sediment was noted. The aroma gave medicinal phenols, oaky sourness, sugary plums and nectarines, citric hops, light yeast, chalky caramel malts, and the soured bite of pale Belgian malts and yeast. Our first impression was that there was nice soured oakiness to the flavoring, holding nicely against the bright juiciness of hops and white grapes. As we sipped, the flavoring opened with clovey phenols, Belgian malts and yeast, big boozy bite, and a metallic twang. The peak came with soft vanillas, more metallics, lemon flesh, and the bite of soured vinegar. The end gave even more orange and lemon flesh sweetness, pale malts, and faint toast of pale malts and oak. The aftertaste breathed of soured grain of oak and toast, phenolic bittering bite of plastics and medicinals, and the juiciness of white wine grapes. The body was full, and the carbonation was full. There was heavy froth and slurp to each sip, with a nicely even coating to the palate. This gave way to crisp dryness of chalky grain. The abv was appropriate, and the beer drank easily.

Overall, what we liked best about this brew was the warmth of flavoring and nice citric spice. The oak was certainly apparent, but ultimately added little in the way of robustness that wasn’t already present to the original ’10 VE. The flavor, has, however, evened out quite a bit, making for a milder, sweeter oaky blend that does sit nicely against those initially cloying and biting grapes of the fresh bottle.

Amazingly this has a completely different color. The barrel has changed the look of the beer in a way I've never seen before. This time, it's almost red with a white head. 4

Again, this smells much different than its origin. I'm getting oak, vanilla, and grapes mostly. Some booze comes out at the very end and is stronger as the beer warms. 3.5

The taste is really nice. The oak and vanilla really work with the grapes and some must and I quite like the caramel finish. After the aroma I was ready for this to be an oaky, booze bomb, but it impressed me. 4.5

The body is medium this time and is carbonated very well. Like before, this is very drinkable. 4

I called this the most surprising beer of the night and it's one of the best of the night as well. I would definitely say this was better from the barrel. Making Stone two out of three in that category. Overall, I wasn't that impressed with the Vertical Epics, but some of the barrel aged iterations really impressed me. 4